Bonds
by Trisomy
Summary: The Key was never found. When Koutarou returns home from his time abroad, life changes.
1. Growth

Warning: Based on the assumption that the reader has finished the entire game. If not, then a large portion of this will make little to no sense.

* * *

"_All of you? Is there no one here who wants to live?" Silence. The man frowned. There was no way the crowd would simply hand over Akane. Would he go so far as to slaughter them to retrieve her? He'd already betrayed every single one of his comrades for the sake of the path forward; what was one more set of bodies to his bloodied hands?_

_The crowd murmured and jostled as a small figure pushed her way past the sea of people to stand in front of the man. There. Akane was right there, just within his grasp. The adults at the front of the crowd made to grab ahold of the child. The man shouted and readied his blade, scarcely able to decipher his own words. His words were met by the harsh determination of the crowd._

"_We're going to give this girl peace! She is our holy woman!" _

"_Don't fuck with me! If you want to die so badly, don't take everybody down with you!" He shoved past the man and rushed through the crowd. Reaching the girl, he grabbed her and held her close as he waded his way back. But an arm latched onto him, joined by another, and yet more as the crowd attempted to hold him in place. Strong as he was, even he would eventually be overpowered by their combined strength._

_The gate began to close, and with it the final link to the real world._

"_Let us go! I… we… we haven't given up on life yet!" A raw, primal scream ripped through the air. Whether it was himself, Akane, or one of the crowd, he was unsure. Suddenly, the man was pitched forward by an unseen force. As he fell through the gate the man twisted around to find the source of his salvation._

_He saw the faces of—_

* * *

Koutarou jolted awake in his chair, nearly tipping himself over in the process. Nursing the red welt forming on his head, he glared at his attacker. "Nishikujou. Was that really necessary?" The accused party merely rested a hand upon her cheek and smiled innocently, other hand still gripping the offending ruler and not even bothering to hide her guilt.

"Oh my, it seems that the dunce of the class has finally woken up." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, the smile dropping from her face and her tone regaining some of its usual ice. "Why are you here?" She gestured at their surroundings. By this point classes were over for the day, but that was no excuse to find her "coworker" sprawled across a library desk asleep.

Koutarou waved away the question nonchalantly, letting out a yawn and stretching leisurely. It was odd, in a way. Had he not taken Esaka's offer to join Guardian those years ago, this uniform would have felt so natural on him it may well have been his second skin. He was beginning to regret taking his small no-name section of the forest rather than Kazamatsuri High in claiming a district to monitor.

"Taking a nap. What does it look like? As long as I dress up like one of your students it'll be fine." The woman brandished the ruler in her hand. Koutarou shivered despite himself, but continued nonetheless, "You're going to try the 'Catholic school teacher' act now, huh? I suppose it actually kind of suits you." He dodged the punch directed toward his face as the woman's eyes burned holes in him.

Then again, perhaps it was for the best Nishikujou had been posted here instead. It was at this school that the woman, once a gloomy and isolated girl, seemed to be finally growing into her own skin. Nowadays she could actually smile, a feat from her that Koutarou could count on his hands prior to leaving the country.

Touka maintained her glare a moment longer before giving up, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Well, what's done is done I suppose. So really, why are you here? You should be out patrolling the forests right now." When her question was met with an impudent grin she briefly entertained the thought of taking one of her real knives and using Koutarou as target practice.

"My neck of the woods is boring, as usual. Nothing has happened the past three months, and I sincerely doubt there ever will be. Figured I may as well hang out somewhere more interesting, so why not bother my favorite knife nut?" This time he was forced to duck his head in response to the ruler she threw at his head, sharpened by Nishikujou to be nearly as lethal as the knives she used in battle. Eager to avoid a third attack, he diverted her attention.

"So are you still going to meet Imamiya at the restaurant later? It's his turn to treat us, after all." She softened slightly and nodded at this, much to Koutarou's delight. Since they had all reunited following Koutarou's return to Japan, it had become something of a routine for them to meet every few days to simply relax and socialize a little.

"Ah, about that! I have a surprise for you two today. I'm sure you guys will love h— it!" Koutarou furrowed his eyebrows at her fumble but decided to drop the issue; he would find out anyway later.

"Looking forward to it, I guess. Unless it's your music again. If that's the case then I must gratefully decline your generous offer, ma'am." For a moment he readied himself for another blow, but relaxed when she merely smiled back at him. It seems she had decided to return to her schoolteacher persona.

"Again with that? I truly pity you and Imamiya. How can you not see the beauty of enka?" She spun on her heels and made her way toward the doors, signaling the end of the conversation. "Well it's no matter, I'm sure you'll like this surprise much more than the last."

As she pushed the door open and exited, Koutarou glimpsed a short head of blonde hair and one wide blue eye peeking through the doorway, shifting her eyes between Koutarou and his teammate. When she noticed his gaze on her, she let out a quiet yelp and quickly retreated. The door clicked shut and Koutarou was left alone at his seat, looking for all the world like an ordinary student enjoying a quiet afternoon in the school library.

The man couldn't help but smile, laying his head back down on the desk. Once upon a time they had been nothing but a collection of individuals forced together by their ineptitude, the gaps between each of them so wide that calling them a team was almost laughable. The ties holding them together were fragile at best, brittle as an eggshell and liable to shatter at the slightest provocation.

But time, it seemed, had done much to them. Imamiya had grown into a strong, capable leader, if a bit hotheaded at times; a far cry from the brash, blustering boy he remembered tearing through the training fields in an effort to prove himself. Nishikujou appeared to have finally put her past behind her, as she could now _smile_. Gone was the girl desperate to prove herself in her own mind and to others, replaced by a confident young woman with a spine of steel and the weapons to match it.

As for himself, he finally had friends. _Friends. _ In the past he might have objected to such meaningless things or found them boring, but at some point he had grown to realize he enjoyed his time with the other two. He was _happy_ for once in his life. And that was enough for him.

* * *

Notes: And that's that. If you've read this far, thanks for reading. This was my first time attempting any kind of creative story outside of school assignments, and I feel that inexperience shows. As a science major writing was never my strong point, but I just felt like this was a universe someone had into delve into after finishing Rewrite: a universe where things turned out all right. A little cheesy but hey, if Muv Luv gets an Altered Fable universe then why not these guys as well?

In retrospect the result could have turned out much better, had I bothered to put in real work such as researching the game's timeline, or perhaps sitting down for more than an hour or two to scribble something down at 2 in the morning. Hell, maybe I should've actually done some proofreading. But regardless, at the very least I enjoyed trying. As for continuing, who knows? I sure don't.


	2. Development

Notes: Fascinating how I do all of my writing at 1 or 2 in the morning while half-zombified. You'd think I would have learned by now, but it happens every time.

* * *

"So let me get this straight: the thing I just ate," Koutarou gestured vaguely at an object sitting on the tree stump in front of him, "Is food. That is, the same kind of stuff we eat in order to live, grow, so on and so forth. Are we still on the same page?"

The girl nodded. Koutarou rubbed his chin sagely and continued, "I can understand that much, at least. But you mean to tell me _that,_" he furrowed his eyebrows and pointed at the offending object once again, "Is also a _familiar_?" Another nod. Koutarou's face flashed green for a moment before he drew in a deep breath, attempting to calm himself lest he start to freak out.

"If it helps, just think of it as eating meat."

Koutarou turned and gave her a fixed stare. "Meat. That tastes like bread. And rice cakes." A third nod. "Are you sure you've had meat before?" The girl folded her arms and glared back at him.

"It's not like I'm forcing you to eat it. I just thought you might be sick of eating those plain bentos all the time. Really, rice and a plum? Even I could do better than that." Kotori turned her head to the side and huffed indignantly as Koutarou winced at her latest jab. It wasn't as if he had no culinary ability to speak of; he had simply gotten too acclimated to simple, Spartan meals during his time out of the country. Despite his best efforts, even a month after his return to Japan he still hadn't fully kicked this habit; nothing to be ashamed of, but slightly embarrassing nonetheless. Eager to save face, he desperately tried to divert her.

"Yes, yes, I get it. So tomorrow is the start of the harvest festival, right? Think of a few places. I suppose I can take you there, brat." On paper, he was supposed to be on the lookout for any signs of increased activity from Gaia tomorrow. In fact, when he had been called down to Guardian headquarters the previous week for briefing, he had found what could only be described as a chaotic whirlwind of activity and haste. Any model member of Guardian would have followed suit and remained on high alert for the duration of the festival.

But he was no model member. Try as he might, he would never be able to fully reconcile the things he had seen, the things he had done, during his time abroad. A face flashed in his mind, framed by long brown hair tied into matching pigtails._ Jasmine._ Fear gripped him a moment later. How was her group doing? Were they safe? Or were they—

_A small crowd huddled in the middle of the room. Many were bleeding and others were crying, though whether in fear, grief, or physical pain he couldn't tell. Most importantly, there were some who lay still. Why were they here? Why were these children here, god damn it? Koutarou lowered his gun, barrel still smoking from the spent shells, and whipped his head toward Luis. They had both shot into the room. Why had neither of them even bothered to check their targets beforehand? As Luis' hands shook and his gun clattered to the floor, he fell to the floor and let out a raw cry of anguish. Koutarou took deep breaths, trying to calm himself—_

No, that's enough. Koutarou mentally slapped himself back to reality. While he had no intent on leaving Guardian, some of their methods he could never agree with. _Jasmine. Kotori_. Perhaps these kids used familiars, but there was no way he would ever consider eliminating them simply at the orders of his boss.

"Oh? Are you trying to take a young, innocent middle schooler out on a date? I should call the police to report a lolicon that's been spotted around the forest lately." Kotori snapped the man out of his thoughts. Despite the threat, Koutarou couldn't help but chuckle. Those days were over. Jasmine's group was safe; he had talked with her just last week about how their investments were coming along. Why should he be worried? Now he just had to make sure that the girl in front of him, to him the little sibling he never had, was never discovered by Guardian.

"Right, right. So how about I buy your silence with a bribe? What say you to a couple of world food sets and some games?" The young girl appeared to ponder this seriously for a moment, as if debating whether she truly should report the man in in front of him.

"Throw in a carriage ride and a new set of gardening tools and you have a deal," she demanded. Koutarou blanched at the thought of the price, but recovered quickly. It's not as if his salary from Guardian could be considered paltry by any stretch of the word. And years ago, before he'd even joined Guardian, he had made a promise to her. What was an easily-replaced war chest to a promise kept and allowing this girl to have fun?

"You have a future ahead of you in business, I see. Well, that's fine too I guess. So do we have a deal?" At the girl's nod, he extended his arm for a handshake. "Terrific! It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Kotori's face suddenly widened in realization as she played the conversation back in her head. "You remembered." She quickly regained control of herself, shooting him a reproachful glance. "You're six years late," she snapped, "So that means you're getting me at least six world sets."

Koutarou merely shook his head and grinned. "Very well, my lady. Would the young miss also like me to do her laundry and give her a foot massage, while I'm waiting at your beck and call?" Kotori wrinkled her nose and shot him a look of disgust.

"Ew, that's pretty creepy. Maybe I really will call the police." Koutarou's grin only widened as he glanced up at the sky and then back toward the girl. Picking himself off of the leaves and brush beneath him, he scooped up Kotori and began to make his way to the forest proper, ignoring her weak protests.

"C'mon, squirt. It's getting late out here, so let's get you back home for some sleep. You're gonna need it, 'cause we're in for a long day tomorrow." Kotori's fists continued to land harmlessly upon his neck and shoulders but she soon gave up, likely resigned to her fate as Koutarou made the trek back into the city limits.

As he walked, Koutarou's grin never faltered. He had never had siblings in the past, so he had no prior example from which to draw a comparison. But he was certain, beyond all doubt, that this girl was precisely the bratty little sister he had never had. Perhaps his own family life as a child had never been quite exemplary, but he was confident he could do at least this much for the girl nodding off to sleep in his arms. His step nearly faltered when Kotori sleepily snuggled further into his arms and muttered, "Onii-chan…"

And perhaps there was one other reason he was doing this. Maybe, among these tentative connections he was now forming with the world, he could start building a family for himself.

* * *

Notes: Terra reveals Koutarou to be roughly a decade above Kotori and Akane, which is fine when they're around six or seven and Koutarou appears to be finishing middle school. Yet even though years pass and Koutarou returns after his stint as a mercenary, Kotori's and Akane's sprites do little to reflect this passage of time. That's forgivable, though, since aging them up visibly would entail designing a whole new set of sprites.

Going by the dialogue between Koutarou, Imamiya, and Nishikujou, I estimate that by this post-PMC period they're probably around 23 or so (Nishikujou talks about how she hopes to get her teaching license soon), which would put Kotori at around 13 or 14 and in middle school.

On another note, I think I'm blending Terra Koutarou with common route Koutarou in personality, yet in writing Kotori I'm only using her Terra personality. How odd.


End file.
